Sanwo-Olu Suspends Media Aide Over Comments On #EndSARS Protesters

 

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Mr. Wale Ajetunmobi.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile.

The statement was titled, ‘Governor Sanwo-Olu suspends aide.’

Ajetunmobi’s suspension “comes on the heels of the misrepresentation of facts on his personal X account on a past incident,” according to the statement.

Akosile noted that the Sanwo-Olu-led administration “frowns at any form of extra-judicial punishment and will not be a part of any such action. That is not who we are. That is not our way.”

A check on Ajetunmobi’s X account, #Riddwane, on Tuesday showed that his timeline was devoid of any such tweet as it had been deleted.

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Premium Times, on Sunday, November 24, 2024, reported a tweet by Ajetunmobi, tweeting as #Riddwane, in which he revealed that arsonists who burnt down the Television Continental station in Lagos during the heat of the 2020 #EndSARS protest, had been “hunted down and executed.”

The suspended aide also stated that one of the “executed” arsonists was a young boy (name undisclosed) who traded in cooking gas around the Ketu area of the state.

Ajetunmobi alleged that the boy was found with an AK-47 rifle.

The tweet read, “The full story of people who burnt down TVC in 2020 will be told one day, with gory clips and images. One thing to note: majority of them have been hunted down and executed.

“One of them, a young boy trading in cooking gas around Ketu, was found with an AK-47 at the site. Even his neighbours were shocked. But the full gist is better saved for later.”

Reacting to the tweet, an X user identified as Hamlad, tweeting as #hamoye4real, asked, “Are you in the know of extra-judicial killings?”

In his response, the suspended aide wrote, “Lol… you want to create a narrative in your head. What is extra-judicial killing here? Some of the people were chased by soldiers and an exchange of fire occurred. Then arsonists were overpowered and killed in the process. Others ran away. Is that an extra-judicial killing to you?”

However, in a tweet by Ajetunmobi early Tuesday at 2:34 am — two days after the report, and quoting the Premium Times report on his X handle, he clarified that while the word “executed” was “erroneously used,” his tweet was his “personal opinion” and didn’t reflect the stance of his employer or his office.

He also stated that “no extra-judicial killing was insinuated.”

The tweet read, “This excerpt was quoted out of context and there were series of comments made under the same post, which better explained what was intended. Like I did further explained in the said tweet, no extra-judicial killing was insinuated. The word ‘executed’ was erroneously used and not intended in the context of that casual conversation.

“What was written in the entire conversation reflected personal opinion and not the position of any authority or the entity in which I work. The post and other comments had been taken down, even before this publication.”